Salvage Operation
When a ship missing for many years was spotted adrift at sea, its one-time owners saw it as their final chance to recover their lost fortune. What they could not have known was that the ship had a new tenant - a most wretched druid, forged in a crucible of cannibalism and surrounded by thousands of venomous pets. Background Manthalay Meravanchi and Aubreck Drallion were rich merchants, princes among their kind. They built a successful operation that had ships sailing the sea, daring pirate raids, aquatic monsters, and storm-tossed oceans to carry goods across the world. Their trade fleet was among the largest of its kind. Yet perhaps their success came too easily. While their profits eventually plateaued, their ambition kept expanding. When Manthalay's contacts in the Mocotan Region reported that he could monopolise trade in several spices and rare herbs by offering a cache of magical items to a native shaman, they leapt at the chance. They sold off and mortgaged many of their assets to pay for the items, and loaded them aboard the Emperor of the Waves, the foremost ship in their fleet. Unfortunately, disaster struck the ship and it was lost at sea in a storm. Manthalay and Aubreck were devastated financially, and their creditors took most of their remaining assets. Aubreck returned to the life of a simple merchant, and Manthalay took a commission in the Continental Army. The ship had washed up on an island of demon-worshipping orc cannibals. There it languished for a number of years as a temple to their god, the demon prince Tharzax. In time, events on the island led to the priest Krell Grohlg setting sail with his orc followers in search of a new life. By now, five years had passed, and the revolution had happened in Sasserine. And so it came to pass that the ship was spotted off the coast of Argyria, less than a week away from Sasserine. News quickly reached Aubreck and Manthalay, who set up an expedition. Synopsis Chapter 1: Desperate Fortunes Manthalay Meravanchi saw this opportunity for what it was, and tracked down as many of the adventurers who owed him favours as he could. In the end, he could only reach a handful in good time. They all met with Aubreck Drallion at Manthalay's house, and the mission was given and terms agreed. Drallion had commissioned Captain Wolgar Windrune and his ship, the Soul of Winter, to take our heroes to the site of the hulk, and after a short but eventful voyage, they came within site of the Emperor of the Waves. Chapter 2: The Derelict Emperor The Emperor of the Waves was listing and had lost its masts, and aboard it was a den of vermin and death. The captain's log described how the ship had washed up on an island of cannibals and the first raid of those cannibals on the ship, and the charts showed the island's location. However, all that remained of the crew were now some bloodstains. Exploring the ship, our heroes braved swarms of spiders, monstrous centipedes and zombies, and came to fight the evil priest and his pet viper belowdecks. Finally, in the ship's hold, they destroyed a pair of ghouls and discovered Meravanchi's lost treasure. Chapter 3: The Death of the Emperor At this point, our heroes learned why the ship was listing so badly to the port. An old, dying giant squid had attacked the ship, but had been driven off by Krell. With the druid's death, it returned to attack the ship, and rocked the boat as our heroes fled for their lives. Successfully reaching the top deck, they abandoned ship and were rescued by the Soul of Winter. Aftermath Drallion and Meravanchi were overjoyed to have their treasure returned to them. With the sale of the items within, they were able to lay the foundations of establishing the Amedio Trading Concern. They happily paid our heroes and set about re-establishing their fortune. However, they still needed some extra backers, and so they decided to approach Vico Bevenin, Roger Kellani and Kallum Vanderboren amongst others. NPCs Allies *Manthalay Meravanchi *Aubreck Drallion *Wolgar Windrune Enemies *Krell Grohlg Monsters *Monstrous Centipedes *Monstrous Spiders *Spider Swarms *Vipers *Zombies *Ghouls *Giant Squid Places *Rythiae *Argyria *Sasserine *Azure DIstrict *Soul of Winter *Emperor of the Waves *Cocomara Bay Category:Adventure Category:Dungeon Magazine Category:Rise of Sasserine